Token Skeptic Podcast

Why do we believe weird things? What does feminine intuition really mean? How do you become an effective activist for science and reason? Are you ready for a monthly show that poses these questions and more?
Tune into the Token Skeptic for a slightly more skeptical look at stories in the news, urban legends, good science, pseudoscience, and what makes popular culture pop.
Hosted and produced by philosophy teacher and radio broadcaster Kylie Sturgess.

The Podcasts

Merry Christmas! One of the great things about the holiday break is the opportunity to get some reading done – and Edzard Ernst has a new book out this year.

This book traces the genesis, principles and practice of homeopathy, and discusses the reasons for its enduring popularity. Ironically, while modern medicine has changed beyond recognition, homeopathy, with its roots in alchemy and metaphysics, continues to be practiced precisely as it was in Hahnemann’s day.

Essentially, the fact that every show is different (apart from host and the following guests you can see pictured above) means that you're not entirely sure what you're going to get.

Maybe Sydney will have flying. Melbourne could involve cake-throwing. I'm seriously planning for Perth to involve a fiesta on the high street. They had The Cure turn up at one of their London gigs, so you never know what local talent they may be able to find.

At any rate, I got the chance to speak to most of the performers in the show for this little special episode and if you'd like to get in touch for more details (especially if you're a Patreon!), the link is http://cosmicshambleslive.com.

Here's the interview with Robin Ince, Trent Burton, Josie Long and Matt Parker about the forthcoming Cosmic Shambles Tour of Australia and NZ .

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The Atheist Foundation of Australia and Cerebral Events Ltd (NZ), in association with Trunkman Productions (UK), proudly presents Cosmic Shambles LIVE, in Australia and New Zealand.

Cosmic Shambles LIVE is a variety show that celebrates curiosity and reason, an explosion of science, comedy, music and general wonder, with a great sense of fun. Hosted by comedian and writer Robin Ince, best known for co-hosting The Infinite Monkey Cage, and joined by a cast of world leading scientists, comedians and performers - this is a show that will make you laugh and make you think.

As the show travels across Australia and New Zealand, many local acts and scientists will be incorporated into the show, making for a unique and different experience with every performance. Each show will be packed with surprises and secret guests.

Make sure you're are on board for what is bound to be a series of nights like no other. Funky sounds! Nerdy wonders! Dazzling spreadsheets! Confused earthworms! And everything else besides.

Part proceeds from the show will be going to great charities like Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).

The video (part of a series) is called No Alternative To Cancer, on the Australia Science TV site. The report details the distressingly high number of cancer sufferers who choose to forego conventional treatment altogether in search of an alternative cure. Kylie Sturgess spoke to Dr Paul Willis of RiAus.

From Rugby League players trying to improve their game, to Hollywood superstars and the depressed sons of media moguls, Scientology has recruited its share of famous Australians. Less known is that Australia was the first place to ban Scientology, or that Scientology spies helped expose the Chelmsford Deep Sleep Scandal.

Numerous Australians have held senior posts in the organisation only to fall foul of the top brass and lose their families as a result. Based on years of interviews and research, Walkley Award-winning journalist Steve Cannane tells for the first time the fascinating story of Australia's vital involvement with this powerful, secretive and punitive cult.

This interview with journalist Steve Cannane was conducted on RTRFM's The Mag and aired on the 22nd August 2016. The book is available through Harper Collins in Australia and is available electronically and worldwide (check twitter.com/SteveCannane for updates).

The series made its World Premiere at a very special event on March 30th at the IMAX Cinema at the Science Museum in London and will be free online in April on YouTube, with special exclusive elements available to Cosmic Genome subscribers.

I spoke to both the directors of Quest For Wonder, Trent and Melinda Burton about the creation of the series. This aired on RTRFM on March 29th on The Mag program.

Dr Dean Burnett is a neuroscientist working as a tutor and lecturer based at Cardiff University's Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences. His Guardian Science blog, 'Brain Flapping', has been viewed over 13 million times in the last three years - and now he has a new book out, called The Idiot Brain: A Neuroscientist Explains What Your Head is Really Up To.

Unpredictable and entertaining, Burnett's account gives us up-to-date research and the principles of neuroscience along the way. Looking at memory, intelligence, observation, social interaction and personality, Burnett explains why: memory is like a doting mother; tall people are more intelligent; criticism is more powerful than praise and much more.

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This has been a great month for science communication in Australia.

Touring now with Think Inc, Dr Brian Greene is professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University. He's written one of the great popular science books of the 20th century – The Elegant Universe, which is about String Theory. He followed it up with a look at the nature of reality – from Newton to Einstein and beyond in The Fabric of the Cosmos.

As if all that wasn’t enough, he and co-founder Tracy Day established the World Science Festival (the first Brisbane offshoot of the festival just concluded this month). It’s an event that celebrates science on a world stage, with over a million visitors since 2008. I began my interview with him, just before the Perth show of his tour, by asking how he got started in space.

New data from national organ donation registries has revealed at least 6 people needed organ transplants after becoming sick from health supplements.

Questions about the regulation of such supplements have led Health Minister Sussan Ley to promise she’ll act on concerns about the number of people needing medical aid after taking herbal supplements.

Just how skeptical – and how careful – should we be about dietary supplements and health pills?

I spoke to research fellow at Clinical Trials Development and Assessment at Sydney University, Dr Nick Fuller.

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It’s good news to hear that amount of financial loss from online fraud suffered by people in Western Australia has almost halved over one year - dropping from $16.8 million in 2014, to $9.8 million in 2015.

Yet while those numbers and the news that losses from relationship and dating fraud are decreasing is great to hear – is it just the beginning of fraudsters trying a few new tactics to get at our money and possibly even risk our lives in the process?

I spoke to Senior Lecturer with the School of Justice at Queensland’s University of Technology, Cassandra Cross - to fill us in on the realities about online scams.

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WA is not giving up on bandicoots – after an initial effort to boost numbers hit a snag in 2012, there’s now a second attempt to reintroduce golden bandicoots to WA bushland.

The Martu Operation Rangelands Restoration project, jointly managed by the Department of Parks and Wildlife and the Martu people, aims to reverse the trend of native animal decline. The little creatures are just one of 11 native mammal species being reintroduced to a property about a thousand kilometers northeast of Perth, after numbers declined due to feral cats, foxes and bushfires.

Department of Parks and Wildlife’s fauna translocations scientist Colleen Sims joined me to discuss how bandicoots are staying gold.

It's all happening in town at the moment -the 2016 Perth Writers Festival!It's a yearly celebration of writing, literature, non-fiction and the authors and ideas behind the covers of a massive range of genres.

Sadly, more than a few of us have probably felt like we’ve lost a loved one before they’ve actually passed away and it’s a difficult thing to talk about. Not many people want to talk about topics like Alzheimer’s or Huntington’s disease, as they can be very scary topics.But that’s where good books can help. Dr Lisa Genova has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and has a series of books on what life is like for people and families facing challenges such as autism or the possibility of Huntingtons – you might have seen the film based on one of her books, Still Alice.

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Jasper Ffordeis a prolific author, most known for a series starring detective Thursday Next, whose adventures in “BookWorld” reflect Fforde’s interest in literary allusion and the intricate craft of fiction.He’s the first Perth Writer’s Festival author in the studio this morning, here to tell us about his new book, panels at the Perth Writers Festival and how he’s managed to create much loved works - and how he's even got his very own Fforde Ffestival!

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Evidence is a strange substance in modern Australian society and it's a challenge to get difficult scientific concepts across to a diverse audience.In 1996 Professor Peter Doherty'spioneering research into how the immune system recognises virus-infected cells earned him the Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine. He became the fourth Australian to win the honour and has since written a number of books the importance of living in an evidence-based reality - his newest one is The Knowledge Wars. He's presenting at the Perth Writers Festival on science, climate change and more.

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Cassandra Athertonhas published eight books, including Trace and Exhumed, and judged numerous poetry awards.She’s also held lectureships at The University of Melbourne, The University of Western Sydney and Deakin University, and interviewed a number of American intellectuals including Harold Bloom, Noam Chomsky, Stephen Greenblatt, and Howard Zinn. She's presenting poetry at the Perth Writer's Festival as a part of the celebrations of language and literature.

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Paolo Bacigalupi is a popular science fiction author who addresses pressing issues of today by showing readers what not dealing with them might mean for tomorrow.Dystopias where climate change, economic inequality and genetic engineering run rampant are the hallmarks of his work such as The Windup Girl - and The Water Knife - his latest - continues in the same vein.

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Pip Lincolne is one of Australia's best known bloggers, launching her writing at "meet me at mikes" and wrote the bestselling book of the same name. She teaches craft and blogging and is the craft contributor for Frankie magazine. Craft for the Soul – How to Make the Most of Your Creative Life is her latest book.She's doing a number of panels at this year's Perth Writers Festival, on the art of crafting - and there's even some tips on making your own "recipe for happiness"

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For local author, Nicki Logan, romantic stories are a best-seller - she's written 23 contemporary romance novels, specialising in nature-based romantic suspense.She was the President of the Romance Writers of Australia and has presented to groups across Australia and in the UK - and now will be appearing at the Perth Writers Festival.

It’s an experience that may not appeal to everyone – a seven-day cruise at sea, aiming to “take back power from corrupt and greedy institutions, attain true self-authority, and realise our genuine Self behind the masks… discovering the truth, taking command of our lives, and attaining genuine inner realisation” – with every odd belief you can think of listed as entertainment:

But Colin McRoberts didn’t let that deter him – in fact, he started a fundraiser to attend and was soon on The ConspiraSea Cruise, blogging his experiences and delving into lectures and talks to find out for himself: why do people believe weird things?

His blogposts series feature at Violent Metaphors blog and he spoke to me for the Token Skeptic podcast, not long after the event concluded.

Leading scientists protested during a national conference this week to appeal against job cuts at the government’s agency for scientific research in Australia, the CSIRO.

The cuts, that will remove about 110 positions from the CSIRO's 140-odd strong Ocean and Atmosphere staff and a similar number from its Land and Water division, were announced in an email from chief executive Larry Marshall on Thursday.

I spoke to Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick from the Climate Change Research Centre at UNSW about her response to the cuts.

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The Perth chapter of Christian group 40 Days for Life plans daily “prayer vigils” outside a Midland clinic during Lent as part of a global anti-abortion campaign.

However, these kinds of peaceful protest aren’t without opposition – with Australian Medical Association WA president Michael Gannon saying a woman should not be “further punished” for exercising her right to an abortion.

Closer to home, Sarah Nielsen-Harvey has begun a counter protest online with a number of other concerned locals, called "40 Days of Love" - I spoke to her about what is involved.

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Sylvia Mariani is Zatanna, Queen of Illusion - and she's performing two shows at the 2016 FringeWorld. She's a transgender woman who has performed nationally and internationally as a renown illusionist and mentalist - and has won WA Magician of the Year a number of times.

Sylvia's shows "Zatanna, Magic from Z… to… A’ and ‘Zatanna’s Theatre of the Mind’ are playing in Perth as a part of the FringeWorld celebrations - I spoke to her to learn a little more about the mystery behind the magic.

Inside a cryonics facility, seven people are woken from their icy slumber to find themselves alone in a locked room, unsure of what day, month or year it is. These strangers from different places and times must work out when they are - and where everyone else has gone!